Queen City Nerve - June 1, 2022

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 14; JUNE 1 - JUNE 14, 2022; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

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iness,NEWS: UNC Charlotte professors call out systemic issues pg. 4

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MUSIC: Quisol gets personal pg. 12

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 On a Precipice by Nikolai Mather UNC Charlotte professor speaks out about burnout and systemic issues at the university

On your next trip to one of our Full Service Recycling Centers Please separate out your glass and place them in the Big Yellow Bin.

www.WipeOutWaste.com

8 A Guide to Juneteenth in Charlotte 25 ways to celebrate and commemorate 10 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

12 A Turn to the Heart by Pat Moran Quisol gets personal with new project 14 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

16 The Science of Sweet by Karie Simmons Anheleta Chatman takes family cheesecake recipe in new directions with Lé Cakes

LIFESTYLE

18 Puzzles 20 Aerin It Out by Aerin Spruill 21 Horoscope 22 Savage Love Thanks to our contributors: Grant Baldwin, Aerin Spruill, Alvin C. Jacobs Jr., Gothika Magazine, Adam Jones, Anheleta Chatman, Adrien Chevalier, Anita Forrer, and Dan Savage.

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Learn more at

ARTS & CULTURE

6 New Space, Same Good Vibes by Ryan Pitkin Reggae Central celebrates 25 years in business, now in a new location

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

ON A PRECIPICE UNC Charlotte professor speaks out about burnout and systemic issues at the university

BY NIKOLAI MATHER

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On April 28, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) released a 38-page report that exposed a glimpse of what some professors within the University of North Carolina (UNC) system are calling a crisis of systemic racism, burnout and lack of academic freedom. The AAUP initially chartered the report with only UNC-Chapel Hill in mind, but soon expanded its breadth to other schools including UNC Charlotte, as well as Appalachian State, Fayetteville State, East Carolina and Western Carolina universities.

Titled “Governance, Academic Freedom, and Institutional Racism in the UNC System,” the report discusses the ways in which political pressure and top-down leadership have obstructed meaningful faculty participation in the UNC system, jeopardized academic freedom, and reinforced institutional racism.

In 2019, professor John Cox, director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Studies, led efforts to revive UNC Charlotte’s AAUP chapter with the help of colleagues including associate professor of anthropology Nicole Peterson, who now serves as the chapter president.

The Charlotte chapter has been speaking out for faculty who have felt frustrated with COVID-19 protocols and the general work environment on campus since well before the report was released.

Queen City Nerve sat down with Peterson to discuss where UNC Charlotte stands with these issues in light of the report’s recent publication.

have been the challenges of faculty governance. The faculty feel like they haven’t been involved in the decisions. More recently, I’ve been really interested in the COVID-19 response and the inability of our university to tailor its response to the local conditions. The system dictated what we could do.

I really want to make it clear: We don’t want to teach online. Most of us don’t find that to be an optimal way to teach. It’s not like we’re a bunch of lazy people in our pajamas all day (laughs). But we also recognize that in extraordinary circumstances, we do have to figure out the best way to do things.

So when the system is telling us we can’t do what’s safest … it’s really frustrating. I think there are frustrations around the modalities of teaching during the pandemic, but also the kinds of topics you can teach. Those things are what people are really concerned about.

university’s Faculty Council [which is comprised of one elected voting member from each academic unit and a number of ex-officio members who manage curriculum and conduct the affairs of the faculty].

But it seems like that route wasn’t as helpful as we had hoped, so we tried to find some other ways to Tell me more about that other piece. What work on these issues. frustrations do you have about teaching certain topics?

What triggered this report, and how did it We’re nervous about teaching certain topics. Do take shape? [professors] think they’re going to be attacked or I understand that Nikole Hannah-Jones [who left UNC-Chapel Hill and took a position at Howard University after a dispute over tenure in 2021] was one of the big reasons that [the AAUP] started looking into things. But basically, they established a committee, that committee contacted different chapters and asked people to talk with them about their experiences in the UNC system.

So the report says they talked to about 50 faculty from the system. I don’t know how many are from UNC Charlotte … I do know they talked to people who were in leadership positions that had the kind of perspective of what faculty generally were experiencing. But it wasn’t 50 randomly chosen faculty who have their own little idiosyncratic views of the world; these are people like me who talk to a lot of faculty about their issues and concerns and are in a position to see the trends across the university.

What’s important to address is the systemic nature of this. It’s not happening to individual people or individual departments or even individual campuses. Across the whole system, there’s this Queen City Nerve: What drove you to revive trend that’s really troubling. I think that’s the the UNC Charlotte chapter of AAUP? advantage of this report is that they were able to Nicole Peterson: We don’t have many options pull all of this together in a way that, even with a in terms of representation, either through the focus on Chapel Hill, you hadn’t seen before. university or more broadly, so the goal was really to find another space for faculty and others affiliated What does this report say about UNC Charlotte? with us and talk about the challenges we’re facing It’s a system-wide set of issues. Some are more and try to address them. We’ve got the more applicable to UNC Charlotte than others. Some of UNC CHARLOTTE PROFESSOR NICOLE PETERSON formal route through faculty governance, like the the particular things we’ve seen at UNC Charlotte

criticized? Are they gonna end up on some website?

I think those are real things that need to be talked about.

I have to say: I teach topics around food and racism, and I wonder what response the students are gonna have. I am not unafraid of being in the classroom sometimes. Even as a white woman, I feel that there’s some pushback against certain topics, in the UNC system and at our university. And I think faculty who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous, or other historically minoritized groups see real disadvantages that come with that. That’s something I’ve seen with colleagues of mine. They receive different treatment. That’s a big problem at every university system.

So while [UNC Charlotte] doesn’t have a case like Nikole Hannah-Jones or a Confederate statue, we struggle with a version of those things. I think that’s why the report is so relevant to UNC Charlotte. Obviously, UNC-Chapel Hill has the big stories, but I think that the reason lies in the system and not just UNC-Chapel Hill. These are problems that we see everywhere. The issue is how do we address that.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE PETERSON

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE So how can Charlotte address that?

[The report] gives suggestions like diversifying the board, increasing faculty governance and participation in that, working within the university … to really make decisions in the best interest of the university. The university is a really special place in that way. Historically, it’s been really democratic.

And yet [democratic decision-making] is also one of the challenges that the report identifies.

How has the UNC system responded?

I’ve seen a couple of quotes [from UNC System officials in the News and Observer] basically disputing that this report was actually submitting any evidence at all. And as a social science qualitative researcher, I think the argument of what constitutes evidence is always politically motivated. Like I said, it’s not 50 random people, it’s not everyone. We could do a survey! But I don’t think you’re gonna like the results.

these decisions for you.” I think the combination of all that has been profoundly difficult for people.

Would you say the events themselves — Nikole Hannah-Jones at UNC-Chapel Hill, COVID-19, and so on — prompted that burnout? Or the system’s response?

It’s not the event itself that really defines it for people, I think. It’s the response. We know horrible things happen all the time. The question is, how are we gonna handle it? The faculty morale has been affected because we’re seeing all these things happen and the response is “work harder for less.”

I think that’s what leads people to go. There’s this impossibility of continuing business as usual given everything that’s going on.

Regardless, I think it’s getting brushed under the rug. It’s not surprising that they want to ignore this. But still: this is about the future of the system.

We have the opportunity to address these issues and to make it a better system for the faculty, staff, students and alumni. For everyone. And if we don’t take that chance, then we are going to have a bad time. The system is on a precipice.

PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN

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It sounds like the report is far from the only NMATHER@QCNERVE.COM project your chapter has been up to. What else have you been focusing on as an organization this year?

[UNC Charlotte] has kept us busy during the pandemic. We’re changing our general education courses, we’re possibly reorganizing one of the colleges, we applied to be a R1 university [a doctoral university with “very high research activity” as determined through the Carnegie Classification System] …

We’ve felt exhausted for a lot of reasons. We had a lot on our plates these past couple years that I don’t know that we needed. But we’ve been keeping busy, definitely — thinking about compensation, thinking about adjuncts … those have been two things we’ve been pushing this past year.

But there’s also just the immediacy of the fact that people are burned out; there’s very low morale. That’s something in the report that I’ve seen firsthand. People are leaving. People are retiring early. Several of my colleagues even this past month have been leaving the university to go elsewhere — other universities or even other careers. A lot of us are looking for new jobs. It’s not a very supportive environment right now.

I think that’s a big issue: When everyone gets to the point of beyond their usual exhaustion and there’s no recognition. Or if there is, it’s, “Y’all did great online with COVID! Now we’re gonna move MEMBERS OF THE LOCAL AAUP CHAPTER SAY CHARLOTTE STRUGGLES WITH ISSUES SYSTEMIC IN THE UNC SYSTEM. everyone into in-person [instruction], and make all

ARTS FEATURE

NEW SPACE, SAME GOOD VIBES Reggae Central celebrates 25 years in business, now in a different location

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BY RYAN PITKIN

Once the Dairy Queen went, Carolyn Barber knew everything was about to change in Plaza Midwood.

It was in September 2019 that the owners of the Dairy Queen located at the corner of Central and Pecan avenues announced they would be forced to close their doors for good the following month. The iconic ice cream shop had opened in 1950.

Brothers Sherman and Steven Walters, whose family had run the shop for nearly 40 years, could not come to terms on a new lease for the property.

Barber, whose shop Reggae Central opened in a storefront kitty-cornered from Dairy Queen in 1997, knew this was a bad omen for her future in Plaza Midwood. She only became more convinced later that month when her longtime friend Penny Craver, owner of nearby restaurant Dish, announced that she and her co-owners were selling their popular eatery.

Dish found new ownership in local restaurateur Lewis Donald, but Barber had built a strong kinship with Craver in the 20 years since Dish had opened, helping book reggae bands at Craver’s since-closed music venue Tremont Music Hall.

Then in January 2021, one of Barber’s closest friends and neighbors Hope Nichols announced that she and her husband would be forced to relocate their clothing boutique Boris & Natasha after 22 years in the neighborhood.

“Me and a few others built this neighborhood back up from being forgotten and it’s sad we are being priced out by the success our decades of work has created,” Nichols told Queen City Nerve before moving out of the space that January. “We have been gentrified and it happened to creative people as well as everyone else who can’t afford to buy into property in an area where we create, live and work.”

As one of the creatives and business owners whom Nichols was referring to having built Plaza Midwood up, Barber knew she wouldn’t be long for the neighborhood. Her lease on the Reggae Central location along Plaza Midwood’s main Central Avenue strip, squeezed between longtime neighborhood staple Mama’s Caribbean Grill and newcomer Emmy Squared Pizza, came to an end on New Year’s Eve 2021. She couldn’t afford to renew it.

Barber had seen the neighborhood change from an eccentric space to one where she didn’t feel

like she fit. After decades of regular foot traffic, she wasn’t getting as much attention as she once had.

“It was more, what can I say, hippie,” she explained, laughing. “But it all kind of changed.”

Now she’s taken a page from some of the folks who were forced out of the neighborhood before her and gone east. The Walter brothers have found a new home in the increasingly popular Eastway Crossing shopping center on the corner of Eastway Drive and Central Avenue. Nichols has settled into a small-but-thriving strip mall on The Plaza, joining Hattie’s Tap & Tavern and Tip Top Daily Market. As for Barber, she has moved into The Shoppes at Citiside, a large and diverse shopping center located at the corner of The Plaza and Eastway Drive.

Now as she celebrates 25 years in business for Reggae Central, a milestone that passed on May 31, she feels rejuvenated in her new location.

“Every day I’m getting new people here,” she told Queen City Nerve during a visit to the new space in March. “So I feel really good. Central Avenue, it was good when it was good, but then I could feel that it was kind of going not that way; instead of up, it was slowing down over there for me. And so now I came over here and I’m like energized again with people coming in. There [on Central Avenue], at the end I was like, ‘Oh, it’s slow.’ You just see people jogging and walking by, you know what I mean? But over here it’s a little more energized.”

CAROLYN BARBER RECENTLY CELEBRATED 25 YEARS RUNNING REGGAE CENTRAL.

An eye on diversity

Having grown up in Rock Hill, Barber originally began looking there for a new location. Yet the strong base of loyal customers she had built over the past 25 years wouldn’t have it.

Her Facebook page lit up with concerned followers after she mentioned where she was looking for new space.

“When I told them, ‘Well, it’s less expensive in Rock Hill to rent, and it’s not that far,’ but then I have customers that come from Virginia, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and they were telling me, ‘Oh no, you can’t do that!’ They travel, and they don’t want to travel to South Carolina.”

It was one of these loyal customers that first brought Barber to the Shoppes at Citiside, where they knew space was available and she could fit right in. She quickly noticed the diversity of businesses at the shopping center — the large Asian Market that anchors it, Enat Ethiopian Restaurant, a Blackowned tattoo parlor, a Vietnamese-owned nail salon.

“We have people here from Guatemala and Vietnam and China and Congo and Senegal, right in this shopping center,” Barber said. “There are all different nationalities. And that’s where I want to be, where it’s diverse.”

That passion for diversity is what drew Barber to reggae culture in the first place. She has noticed that

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

ARTS FEATURE her store is a tourist destination for people traveling from all over the world, not just the countries one might associate with reggae.

“It’s rooted, you know? So it’s culture. And what can I say? It’s just a part of who you are,” Barber said. “And it’s not just reggae. It’s Central and South America. It’s everything, really, a little bit of everything.”

For this reason, Barber tries to keep something in stock that serves as a nod to each and every country she can think of, be it a banner, a keychain, or a flag, so that anyone who walks in the door has a chance to find something that makes them feel at home.

Now with her new home in Shoppes at Citiside, she’s already noticed that the diversity of the new businesses around her has only made that point all the more relevant. Immigrants from around the world already regular the east Charlotte shopping center for their own reasons. She’s noticed that some of her old clientele overlaps with the regular traffic at the shopping center.

“My customers know this area because most of them eat at the Ethiopian restaurant or they go into the Asian Market for fresh seafood and it’s like, ‘Oh God, you moved up here? I only have to make one stop now.’ I get a lot of that. They know this area and they live not far from here,” she said.

Another 25 years

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Reggae Central’s 25-year anniversary came and went without much fanfare on May 31, but that’s not because Barber doesn’t want to celebrate with her customers. Having decided on the new space a relatively short time before she had to be out of her original location, the last six months have been a whirlwind of a move for Barber, which started with throwing everything into boxes and placing them in the new space during the last few days of 2021, then figuring out a new layout from there.

Upon our visit in March, Barber had turned the space into something just as homey as the Central Avenue spot. The store is stocked fully with clothing, instruments, artifacts, decor and everything else her customers had come to expect.

Despite dealing with just half the space (around 1,000 square feet as compared to the nearly 2,000 she had), Barber found room to carve out a comfy lounge for kicking back and reflecting on her first 25 years in business.

“The support from the community is what

has kept Reggae Central open all these years, the generations of people,” she said, before allowing for some self-congratulatory admittance despite her humble nature.

“And I guess me, too. It takes the right person, the right personality, the right heart to be able to communicate with people in a way where people feel at home when they come in your home — your store. When people feel that closeness, that’s what keeps it alive. It doesn’t really feel like you’re working, it doesn’t feel like a job, it just feels like I’m leaving home and going to my other home. So that’s a good feeling. I probably will be doing this until I can’t do it no more. My friends have said, ‘We’re going to be pushing you in here on a wheelchair.’”

Barber does plan to celebrate her 25th anniversary at some point this summer, but she wants to have some time to truly congregate with her neighbors and build a community.

She has a vision of hosting a series of events in the Shoppes at Citiside parking lot, all-day festivals that celebrate the heritage of each business owner within the center.

Her first step in that direction will occur on June 18 with Reggae Central’s Juneteenth celebration, featuring free drinks, food from the Authentic by Zee A LOOK INSIDE REGGAE CENTRAL’S NEW SPACE. Jamaican food truck, a DJ on site and more.

“When you think back on generations and generations before me and what they went through and to have the freedom to do what I’m doing now, it means a lot and to pass it on to other generations to let them know what Juneteenth means,” she told Queen City Nerve during a recent talk in May. “It’s not just about shopping, it’s not about that. It’s togetherness, it’s a remembrance, it’s a meditation on what people went through back then and a celebration of how they got through it.”

She also hopes it can serve as a stepping stone for business owners at the Shoppes at Citiside to venture over and begin to build friendships.

While Barber has already connected with the neighboring nail salon and nearby tattoo parlor, she looks forward to making a more concerted effort in the lead-up to Juneteenth, introducing herself to all of the neighboring businesses and encouraging them to come out and be a part of community.

After all, this is more than a place of business to her now.

“I didn’t know this area until one of my customers brought me over here,” she said. “I didn’t really know this area existed, but I’m at home now.”

ARTS FEATURE

Juneteenth Run & Ride

A GUIDE TO JUNETEENTH IN CHARLOTTE 25 ways to commemorate and celebrate

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 that Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free, two years after President Abraham Lincoln had pronounced as much with the Emancipation Proclamation.

While Juneteenth has seen rises and dips in popularity nationwide over the last 150-plus years, many in the Black community have continued on in the traditional celebration of freedom, agency and education. It was only last year that Juneteenth was made a national holiday to be celebrated on June 19.

Here’s a list of 25 ways you can observe Juneteenth in the Charlotte area.

Charlotte Pilgrimage Tours

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In 1998, the Interfaith Pilgrimage made its way through Charlotte on its journey from Boston to West Africa. Their goal was to re-create the slave trade routes — known as the Middle Passage — and in the process make stops at points of interest to pray for racial healing and atonement for the past institution of slavery. This professionally-guided motorized tour is a re-creation of their stop here, where they visited three existing slave cemeteries, a former slave church and over 50 other sites of Charlotte history.

More: $18-32; various dates and times; charlottepilgrimagetour.com

Juneteenth of the Carolinas

A free multicultural event, now in its 25th year, that aims to examine the cultural heritage of enslaved Africans and their descendants through art, education and research. Events include a parade, heritage performances and music, a street festival in Plaza Midwood, drum circles and Sunday service.

More: Free; June 16-19, times vary; House of Africa, 1215 Thomas Ave.; juneteenthofthecarolinas.com

Celebrate physical, mental and spiritual freedom by running 2-3.5 miles or biking 10-25 miles to earn a commemorative medal. Following the run and ride, there will be food and merchandise for purchase from Exposed Vegan and Renaldo’s Restaurant.

More: $30; June 18, 7:30 a.m.; 1540 W. Blvd.; tinyurl.com/JuneteenthRunAndRide

Juneteenth on the Corridor

Juneteenth Celebration of Leadership and Excellence Workshop

Little Miss Melanin is a beauty, leadership and excellence camp for BIPOC girls from ages 3-18.

Organizers aim to create a safe, fun and inspirational environment that inspires girls to be bold, brave and brilliant with a program that encourages them to take pride in their culture and heritage and cultivate a strong self-image. Each girl participates in workshops on leadership, S.T.E.A.M. careers, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, etiquette, pageantry, modeling, acting, dance, nutrition, wellness and art.

More: $125, June 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; First Ward Elementary School, 715 N. Caldwell St.; tinyurl.com/ LittleMissMelanin

The third-annual Juneteenth festival in the Historic West End, themed“Celebrating and Educating: Black Liberation and Unity,” features performances by African dancers, Black musicians and storytellers, voter registration and education, children’s activities and health screenings.

Juneteenth Spades Tournament Teams of two compete for a $200 cash prize playing More: Free; June 18, 1:30 p.m.; Senior Drive in the card game Spades, which has as central a role in University Park; tinyurl.com/WestEndJuneteenth Remember the Ancestors 5K African-American culture. The tournament is free to Community support is at the heart of every big social watch and there will be music, food and drinks.

The Power of YOUth Juneteenth Teen change, every generational shift, and every big win for More: $20 per two-person team; June 16, 7 p.m.; Summit diversity and inclusivity. It starts locally, perhaps with Upscale Studio and Events, 9307 Monroe Road, Suite Attendees will hear from keynote speaker Demario small races with big missions, like Remember The B; tinyurl.com/JuneteenthSpades Baker, owner and founder of Nspire-Us Foundation, Ancestors 5k, that ultimately create a better tomorrow a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring and educating for all people. Melanin Parks, a nonprofit that aims to Juneteenth Charlotte Celebration underserved youth, and address related topics promote and improve diversity and inclusivity in the A weekend experience that includes performing arts, during a youth-led panel discussion. More: Free; Charlotte area, was built on the founding principle spoken word, live music, a community meditation June 18, noon; Carole Hoefener Center, 615 E. 6th that, “Together, we can make a change.” Remember and drum circle, an art walk, fashion show and after St.; pwrofyouthcharnc.eventbrite.com The Ancestors 5k is where that starts. The route passes hours rooftop events. The celebration aims to honor by four sites of historical significance in Fort Mill. the past by celebrating the freedom Black people Ada Jenkins Juneteenth Celebration More: $25 for kids, $35 for adults; June 18, 7:30 had before the period of slavery and all they’ve This family and career development center’s second a.m.; Steele Street Park, 600 Steele St., Fort Mill, SC; contributed to the world for the past 100,000 years. annual Juneteenth event will include slam poetry, https://tinyurl.com/MelaninParks More: Free; June 17-19, various times; Rendezvous performances, a keynote address, music, dancing, 704, 619 Anderson St.; juneteenthclt.info shopping, food trucks, a “Fun Zone” for kids and more. Fort Mill Juneteenth Celebration More: Free; June 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Ada Jenkins Don’t want to run a race (or wake up before 8 a.m.)?

Art After Dark: Freedom and Expression Center, 212 Gamble St., Davidson; adajenkins.org/ Get down to Steele Street Park for the party that Art After Dark is a celebration of Black Music Month events/juneteenth follows the race, featuring food, games, live music during Juneteenth weekend. Attendees can create a and family-friendly fun. collage and experiment with oil pastels during drop-in Charlotte Golfers Alliance Juneteenth Golf More: Free; June 18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Steele Street workshops; explore the latest exhibit, Billie Zangewa: Park, 600 Steele St., Fort Mill, SC; tinyurl.com/ Classic & Gala Thread for a Web Begun; and watch a specially curated The Charlotte Golfers Alliance is a nonprofit organization FortMillJuneteenth theatre performance and live concert that celebrates a founded in 2021 to unite golfers in the Charlotte region journey through decades of Black music. to celebrate and promote diversity in the game of golf. Belmont Juneteenth Celebration More: Free; June 17, 6 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. The purpose of the 2nd Annual Juneteenth Golf Classic Elements of Empowerment, a group that aims to foster Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org and Gala is to gather golfers around the Charlotte region cultural awareness, acceptance, and preservation by in order to participate in one round of golf for a good educating, enriching, and empowering communities NC Juneteenth Festival through artistic cultural programs, presentations cause while celebrating the Juneteenth holiday.

Titled “Educating, Empowering, Entertaining,” the More about the golf tournament: $250 per and events, is returning to in-person for this year’s 2022 North Carolina Juneteenth Festival features two-person team; June 18, 8:30 a.m.; Rocky River Juneteenth celebration, which is celebrating 10 years 40 Black-owned vendors as well as kids activities, Golf Club, 6900 Bruton Smith Blvd., Concord since it became the first such celebration in Gaston dance and music performances.

More about the gala: $125 per person; June County. The all-day festival focuses on music, art and More: Free; June 18, 1 p.m.; Cabarrus Arena & 18, 6 p.m.; Hilton Charlotte Concord Golf Resort & culture as its key elements.

Events Center, 4751 NC 49, Concord; tinyurl.com/ Spa, 5400 John Q. Hammons Drive NW, Concord; More: Free; June 18, 2-9:30 p.m.; Stowe NCJuneteenth Park, 24 S. Main St., Belmont; tinyurl.com/ charlottegolfersalliance.org/juneteenth BelmontJuneteenthCelebration

ARTS FEATURE Gastonia Ebonyfest Juneteenth

This Juneteenth Festival will for the first time include a parade and fireworks to wrap up a weekend that will feature a youth summit and luncheon, basketball tournaments, entertainment, food trucks, Black-owned business vendors, a kids corner and information/resources. The first day takes place at the Erwin Center, named in honor of Dr. Herbert Erwin, Gaston County’s first African American physician and a strong advocate for youth sports and activities. Sunday’s festivities will take place at the Rotary Centennial Pavilion.

More: Free-$100; June 18, Noon-9 p.m., Erwin Center, 913 N. Pryor St., Gastonia; June 19, Noon-9 p.m., Rotary Centennial Pavilion, 111 S. South St., Gastonia; tinyurl.com/GastoniaEbonyfest

Juneteenth Buy-Black Fest

Black Business Owners of Charlotte was founded in late 2014 with a goal to empower current and future Black business owners with resources needed to sustain a lucrative business, while inspiring them to reach back and uplift their surrounding communities. In their mission to create pathways to economic mobility and close the 50-year wealth gap facing the Black community, BBOC celebrates Juneteenth aka Economic Freedom Day, with a family-friendly event featuring a “Kids Zone,” music, and an array of Black-owned businesses including food trucks, retail, dessert and artisans.

More: Free-$5; June 19, 2-8 p.m.; StarMed Family & Urgent Care, 4001 Tuckaseegee Road; tinyurl.com/ BBOCJuneteenth

Juneteenth Youth Experience

Pierre Shungu, founder of the Juneteenth Youth Experience, joins with community leaders and business owners to present the third-annual Juneteenth Youth Experience, for which organizers expect more than 40 youth vendors, youth entertainment and special guests. This event aims to be a pivotal platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses and/or products and encourage successful business practices.

More: Free; June 19, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Romare Bearden Park, 300 S. Church St.;

N&C Juneteenth Backyard Cookout

This year, the Network & Chill Foundation is all about mentorship and youth empowerment. While much of this event will feature fun games, music and performances, there will also be a heavy focus on entrepreneurship — offering mentorship opportunities for the youth as well as connecting artists and entrepreneurs alike with a network of people who can help each other reach new levels of success.

More: $5-$25; June 19, 2 p.m.; Steele Creek, address to be disclosed upon purchase; tinyurl.com/ SteeleCreekCookout

We Are Juneteenth

Held by Beauty & Blessings Events LLC, this Black business mixer aims to bring together the community to celebrate the freedom and liberation of Black people.

More: Free-$70, June 19, 2-6 p.m.; Hornets Nest Park, 6301 Beatties Ford Road; tinyurl.com/ HornetsNestJuneteenth

Juneteenth HBCU Kickball Tournament

If you can kick, throw, catch, pitch, run or just want to support an HBCU, sign up for this special event. The winning team will receive a trophy and bragging rights. Don’t have a team? Sign up individually and you will be placed on one. All funds raised will support the 2022-23 Winston Salem State University National Alumni Association Charlotte Chapter Scholarship Fund.

More: $30; June 19, 10 a.m.; Veterans Memorial Park, 2136 Central Ave.; tinyurl.com/HBCUKickball

to dream big and accomplish their goals in life.

Parade participants will include a variety of Black professionals from all types of industries as a testimony that opportunities are endless.

More: Free; June 20, 10 a.m.; CPCC Cato Campus, 8120 Grier Road; tinyurl.com/QCJuneteenthParade

Buy Black Pop-Up Shop

Celebrate Black freedom at NXT Big Thing Charlotte’s Juneteenth Celebration pop-up shop, featuring free SWAG bags, food, drink, music, and shopping from Black vendors.

More: Free; June 25, noon-4 p.m.; Queen City Social Space, 8414 Bellhaven Blvd.; tinyurl.com/ NXTBigThingCLTJuneteenth

Juneteenth Freedom Market

A free, educational and empowering event hosted by UNC Charlotte’s Scrapbooking Club featuring music, poetry, vendors, educational resources, giveaways, community and more.

Queen City Juneteenth Parade More: Free; June 25, noon-5 p.m.; UNC Charlotte Inspired by the array of Black people standing in Popp Martin Student Union, 8845 Craver Road; honor, dignity, beauty and strength in the movie tinyurl.com/UNCCFreedomMarket Black Panther, this inaugural Juneteenth parade will be a platform to encourage young people

Elements of Freedom

A PERFORMANCE DURING A PAST WEST END CORRIDOR JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION. PHOTO BY ALVIN C. JACOBS JR.

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An afternoon of music, conversation and creative expression for all at the Gantt Center features a lineup of fun, engaging and interactive events trumpeting the elements of freedom: a colorful hands-on art experience with contemporary abstract artist Frankie Zombie, a community conversation on historical elements surrounding Juneteenth in which participants will reflect on the importance of never forgetting the past and celebrating how far the community and culture have advanced, and a closing live musical performance from Quentin Talley and the Soul Providers.

More: Free; 12:30-5 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; tinyurl.com/GanttJuneteenth

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FRI 6/3

Support the Charlotte Film Society and the soon-toopen Independent Picture House with dinner and a movie at Alchemy at C3 Lab. Spaceballs, Mel Brooks’ slapstick skewering of the Star Wars franchise, was deemed slight and silly by critics upon its release. Nowadays it plays like a sitcom critique of conspicuous consumption — villain Pizza the Hut dies by eating himself while the other baddies get blown up for trying to steal planet Druidia’s air.

Star Wars impresario George Lucas reportedly OK’d the script as long as Brooks didn’t merchandise tchotchkes or action figures to compete with the originals.

More: $5; June 2, 5 p.m.; Alchemy Restaurant & Bar, 2517 Distribution St.; c3-lab.com/events

With pitch-shifted vocals that suggest Daft Punk on angel dust, Dallas Thrasher’s “Riot” throws robotic bellowing over a repeated New Wave sample that sounds suspiciously like Phil Collins. Jodimattiaccy fuses blurting synths and Coil-like blasts of noise into a dissonant horror-film soundscape on “The Langoliers,” and get bonus points for looping clips from the gloriously cheesy 1995 adaptation of the Steven King story on their video for the song. We couldn’t find any music from DJHatchfornow online, but judging from the company they keep, minds will be blown.

More: Free; June 3, 7:30 p.m.; Goodyear Arts, Camp North End, 301 Camp Road; goodyeararts.com

FOOD AND FLIX: ‘SPACEBALLS’

DALLAS THRASHER, JODIMATTIACCY, DJHATCH4NOW,

JOHN NEWTON, AUTHOR OF ‘AMAZING GRACE’ Photo by Adam Jones

TATIANA EVA-MARIE Photo by Adrien Chevalier

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ART FOR SECOND CHANCES

CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE: PRIDE CONCERTS FOR THE COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

The U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, and life after incarceration has become increasingly difficult for people seeking happiness and stability. The Center for Community Transitions, a nonprofit that helps those with criminal records navigate paths toward healthy and productive lives, hosts a fundraising art auction to support services like employment training, social and emotional curriculum for school children, and transition support to women releasing from prison. Local artists including Juan Logan, Ben Parrish, Tommie Robinson, Chase Saunders, Jane Showalter, Herb Jackson and Nellie Ashford have donated artwork to the auction.

More: Free; June 5, Noon-5 p.m.; Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.; centerforcommunitytransitions.org

Penned by 18th-century slave owner John Newton, who later repented and joined the abolitionist cause, “Amazing Grace” transcends its problematic origins. It’s referenced in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and has been performed publicly

by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, President Barack Obama and more. The stirring hymn steps up once more in a performance by the Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church choir, a group that touts its own strong local history, accompanied by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO). It’s the first in CSO’s summer series of outdoor concerts designed to bring live music to communities throughout the region.

More: Free; June 8, 7:30 p.m.; Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church, 401 N. McDowell St.; charlottesymphony.org

WED6/8 The Bechtler celebrates National Pride Month with a performance by the Charlotte Pride Band.

Festivities include a large ensemble performance on the Bechtler Plaza, a brass quintet and wind quintet inside the museum’s lobby, and a small chamber ensemble collaboration with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in the museum galleries. Free access to the Bechtler, the Gantt, and the Mint is included, along with access to the Bechtler’s current exhibition on androgynous Swiss heiress, journalist, photographer and traveler Annemarie Schwarzenbach, whose writings, along with her glamourous yet troubled life, made her a queer cult figure.

More: Free; June 8, 5 p.m.; Bechtler Museum, 420 S. Tryon St.; bechtler.org

THUR6/9-6/10 & FRI TATIANA EVA-MARIE

Bandleader, jazz singer, stage director, author and actress Tatiana Eva-Marie has been showered with accolades from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Downbeat and Vanity Fair, who described her as “a millennial shaking up the jazz scene.” EvaMarie’s singing is inspired by her own French and Gypsy heritage; a love for the Parisian art scene of the 1920s through the ’60s and a fascination for New Orleans jazz. The Brooklyn-based polymath and her quartet honors the legacy of Gypsy legend Django Reinhardt and takes audiences on a vintage musical journey back to early 20th-century Paris.

More: $20-30; June 9-10; Stage Door Theater, 155 N. College St.; blumenthalarts.org

SAT 6/11-6/12 & SUN SUN6/12 AG + ART TOUR OF WESTERN YORK COUNTY

ANNEMARIE SCHWARZENBACH (PRIDE CELEBRATION) Photo by Anita Forrer, property of Swiss Literary Archives

Now in its 10th year, the Ag + Art Tour is the nation’s largest known free self-guided tour, plus a means for farms and artisans to expand their exposure to locals and visitors. Trek western York County’s rural roads to 13 sites including Cat’s Paw Winery, which spotlights on-premises tasting; Hourglass Alpacas, home of alpacas, llamas, zebus and baby doll sheep; Tatanka Bison Ranch, featuring bison to view; Windy Hill Orchard & Cidery, a boutique apple orchard and hard cider producer; and Black’s Peaches, a roadside market celebrating its 99th year in the peach business.

More: Free; June 11-12, western York County; agandarttour.com/york-west

CLASSIC BLACK CINEMA SERIES: ‘THE WATERMELON WOMAN’

The first narrative feature by an out Black lesbian filmmaker, director Cheryl Dunye’s The Watermelon Woman (1996) follows the travails of a fledgling Black lesbian documentarian. Played by Dunye, the protagonist attempts to piece together the career of a beautiful Black actress who played a mammy character in 1930s dramas. Along the way, the filmmaker is blocked by gatekeepers including white gay men, white lesbians and hostile policemen.

Dunye plays fast and loose with film conventions and grammar, juxtaposing purported 16-mm film footage with gloriously grainy ’90s video.

More: $5-9; June 12, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

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‘THE WATERMELON WOMAN’ Film still

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COLATURA, DREAMBOAT, BURIED IN MONOCHOPSIS, NECTAR, NEPTUNE ROSES FLYER

NEPTUNE FLYER Promotional photo

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On the title track of their 2020 album, Two Worlds: And In Between, Charlotte prog-rock four piece Monochopsis opt for a lilting and coiling guitardriven take on the genre, akin to the softer side of Pink Floyd. Then, with the gnarled and spiraling “Purity,” guitars and stentorian organ collide for a retro Rush meets Captain Beyond vibe. With joyous harmonies, pealing guitars and major chord melodies, Illinois-based band Nectar have earned comparisons to the criminally overlooked ’90s band that dog. Charlotte’s Neptune Flyer boast a consistent style that makes room for punk, alternative and stomping garage rock.

More: $7; June 14, 8 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com NEPTUNE FLYER Promotional photo

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Brooklyn trio Colatura has been called the shoegaze Fleetwood Mac, combining multiple female vocal lines with jangly guitars and melodic bass. North Carolina goth duo Buried in Roses call themselves shoegaze from the abyss. Featuring guest vocalist Eve Essex, the band’s “I Float Alone” is the kind of dramatic, romantic, doomy and Nick Cave-like tune you’d expect from the Black Lodge house band on David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. A self-described dreamy angry girl rock ‘n’ roll band, Charlotte’s Dreamboat crafts moody reverb drenched garage rock that can ratchet it up on a dime.

More: $10; June 13, 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

MUSIC FEATURE

The experience convinced him to focus on garages in NoDa, backyards in west Charlotte, and in community organizing, he says. the basement of the home of artist and house-show “I wanted to change the world and be a organizer Michelle “Bunny” Gregory.

DJs and promoters came to the house shows and leader,” Quisol says. His studies abroad took him to The Hague in the Netherlands to learn about invited Quisol, Celeste and their musician friends to international relations, but he soon began to doubt play at local venues including Hattie’s Tap & Tavern and Snug Harbor. the direction he was taking.

“After that, we started playing out, and one “It didn’t feel like a fit for me, because I wanted thing led to another,” Quisol says. At the same time, to be an artist,” Quisol says.

BY PAT MORAN After earning his degree at the College of he started looking for a way to organize shows Charleston, Quisol briefly moved to Atlanta, but professionally, to take the Queens Collective model soon returned to Charlotte to pursue his music and turn it into a community project or a nonprofit career. Partnering with singer-songwriter Celeste or a social impact LLC. The song “In the Flesh” marks a change in Quisol’s That said, the praise genre also represents an “That would be my career,” he says, “Not just a Moonchild in Queens Collective, he began to organize musical path — a turn from projects that amplify emotional and intimate tie for him. house shows in Charlotte. Gigs were hosted in artists’ collective thing, but something that could sustain social movements to more personal songs in which “It’s part of my family,” he says. “Church music the alt-pop artist delves into his heart and soul. ... reminds me of a safe home space. That’s the part Appearing on Quisol’s second album that pulls at my heartstrings and makes me feel Dreamworld, which dropped on streaming platforms connected to the creator.”

April 18, “In The Flesh” is a lilting indie-pop love song for the digital age. It’s also an autobiographical Music for protest narrative from Quisol, a Gates Millennium Scholar Quisol’s family moved to Charlotte from Florida with a Master’s of Education degree in Arts in when he was 10 years old. By that time he was already Education from Harvard University who is also queer. singing at churches, and upon arrival in North Carolina, “I left my home for Cambridge/ And I don’t know he began playing percussion and guitar, forming bands nobody/ But now I love somebody/ And now we’re in middle school. Attending North Mecklenburg High dancing in my room...”

School, Quisol played alto saxophone in the school’s The lyrics reference Quisol’s time in Boston, and its concert band. In freshman year, he started writing title and imagery look to his upbringing in a Filipino- songs on ukulele. He formed the band Yara with some Puerto Rican-American family with deep ties to its church. classmates and played a showcase gig at The Evening “The imagery of the scriptures are relatable to Muse. Quisol was 16 at the time. people; [it’s] like old language that feels familiar,” In his junior year, Quisol started dating his Quisol says. “The imagery of flesh is … Christian school’s valedictorian, who encouraged and inspired symbolism [that] I use to talk about someone in real him to apply for college scholarships. After he life that you communicated with mainly digital. It’s completed a practice round of SATs, Quisol received a ‘the word become flesh,’ and the person you’ve been letter inviting him to apply for a scholarship through texting is now actually there.” the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Running alone on a playing field in the song’s “Their informants found me!” Quisol says, accompanying video, the 27-year-old Quisol appears laughing. to be looking toward his future, but a sequence of The grant funding was a boon to the young him scrolling through footage of friends on a video artist whose parents hadn’t attended college. camera seems a bittersweet reverie on the past.

Quisol attended the Honors College at the College Quisol prefers to call his music pop, but his songs of Charleston, where he studied political science and contain elements of alternative R&B, pop-soul, electro international studies. and jazz, often utilizing unconventional melodies and “I needed to get out of Charlotte, and out of the prominent use of electronic keyboards. Most of all, suburbs, and study internationally,” Quisol says.

Quisol’s tunes trace a throughline to praise music.

He went to Cambodia for a month to study media That connection comes with mixed feelings for the and journalism. Drawn to governance and nonprofit performer, since many churches that feature praise work, Quisol became interested in working for nonmusic are not accepting of queer people like him. governmental organizations working in community “It’s complicated doing praise music, just development and empowerment. because of the modern social mores around LGBTQ In 2016, Quisol became involved in the protests identity,” says Quisol, who is not a regular church- that arose in response to the police killing of Keith QUISOL goer. “I think, theologically, if everyone is a sinner, Lamont Scott. He joined Charlotte Jail Support in PHOTO BY GOTHIKA MAGAZINE then what’s the difference?” hopes of furthering the Black Lives Matter movement.

A TURN TO THE HEART

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Quisol gets personal with new project

MUSIC FEATURE everyone involved in the production of these shows, to scale it up.”

As it turned out, Quisol found a way to scale up his vision by turning once again to the Gates Scholarship.

The program funds graduate school in education, so Quisol applied to the foundation to fund a degree in Arts in Education from Harvard University.

“It’s not the stereotypical path of moving to L.A. and mixing and mingling with people until you end up on a huge record label,” he says.

Instead, Quisol went to Harvard to earn a master’s. He also cross-enrolled in the undergraduate school of music for his electives, where he took songwriting and composition with jazz musicians like pianist and MacArthur Genius Vijay Iyer and Grammy award-winner Esperanza Spalding.

In Spalding’s class, Quisol studied music activism, looking at singer-songwriters who wrote lyrics and performed songs that raised awareness about issues. Of particular interest to him was the song “Huelga en General,” which translates to “General Strike,” written by Luis Valdez. The protest tune became popular during the Delano Grape Strikes of 1965, a labor dispute turned civil rights struggle. “Huelga en General” fostered solidarity between Filipino and Mexican farmworkers striking for better wages and working conditions. With his part-Filipino heritage, the song spoke to Quisol.

When Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico, that hit close to home for him as well. He organized an interview and live session with Fabiola Mendez, a Puerto Rican cuatro player, the commonwealth’s national instrument. The event raised awareness about U.S./Puerto Rico relations and the legacy of American colonialism.

Music for love

“There are tons of people doing music different from top 40 music that has a lot of the same elements,” he says. “They’ll still have that electronic sound, but it’s more niche execution and delivery.

It’s alternative music, but it’s alternative pop music.”

Quisol applies those techniques, including pitch shifting of vocals, to his new music, which he describes as “accessible and relatable while still being authentic.”

“Because of my identity, I feel like an outsider a lot of the time — a brown person with a mixed Asian and Latino background,” he says. “So, I find some power in being able to say I make pop music and it’s not [something] weird.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic setting in and wildfires raging across California, Quisol decided to return home to North Carolina. He currently resides in Mooresville.

He wrote Dreamworld during the pandemic, accessing his hopes, dreams and feelings about love and relationships. He’s assembled a band comprised of drummer Nik Maldonado, bassist Max Hoffman, synthesizer player Walker McNeil and Michael Gonzalez on congas to play the new album live at Snug Harbor on June 10.

“When I made Revelations I felt there was so

much to be said,” he says. “I had been protesting to get people to hear about the issues.”

But by 2022, with the pandemic dragging on and having experienced new momentum in the protest movement after the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Quisol says he felt like the mainstream had finally been forced to face reality.

“I felt I said my piece and really needed to write Dreamworld to process my inner world,” he says.

The resulting songs feature electronic production, strings and piano. Some of the tunes are more classical sounding while others have jazz chords on guitar, and Quisol says he has sequenced them in a way that will engage the listener and take them on a journey.

The album is definitely a departure from Quisol’s previous social movement music, an inward turn to all the feelings associated with love. He calls it heartfelt music — positive, uplifting and also queer.

“It has a vibe for the LGBTQ community to [foster] some self-love and some mindfulness,” Quisol says. “It’s a reminder of the beauty in the world, and I think it’s hopeful. It has a lot of the feelings that I have experienced from praise music.”

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Quisol further put his entwined interests and expertise in music and organizing to work in crafting his first album Revelations. He was awarded a $15,000 Live Arts Boston Grant from The Boston Foundation to begin sessions and production on the full-length release, which features an all-star lineup of queer and trans artists of color from Boston, Charlotte, and beyond.

Released in March 2019, Revelations opens with a quote by Boston-based queer, nonbinary, AfroPuerto Rican poet Eddie Maisonet: “I woke up with guitar strings in my belly.”

A standout track on the album, “We Must Go” is a collaboration between Quisol and Charlotte R&B

artist Dexter Jordan. It was inspired by a meeting between the two men when they were both in Uptown Charlotte during the 2016 protests. “[The song] is about the feeling of that protest moment, the urge inside,” Quisol offers. “It’s like, ‘This is a moment we need to protest, but there is a lot of doubt and anxiety surrounding it, too.’”

Revelations amplifies causes like LGBTQ rights and Black Lives Matter, but one song on the album, “Blue Curaçao,” foreshadows the turn to personal issues that concerns Quisol’s newest music. The tune’s title, based on the liqueur blue curaçao, is political in nature, he says. Spanish colonists planted Mediterranean citrus trees on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, but the resulting fruit was bitter and unappetizing. When Dutch colonists replaced the Spanish on the island, they took the bitter fruits and turned them into a liqueur, dyed it blue and sold it.

“It just felt like this extraction, like how much more money can we pull out of this island and it’s natural resources,” Quisol says.

Yet, despite the song’s politically inspired title, the lush alternative R&B-inflected tune is personal, applying the symbolism of a draining ruling regime to a toxic personal relationship.

The video for the song goes further into affairs of the heart, offering sensuous imagery of Quisol luxuriating in the deep blue waters of Lake Mono in the snowcapped Sierra Nevada. Amid a beautiful yet alien landscape of jagged limestone spires, Quisol emerges from the water and executes a series of martial arts moves — he holds a blackbelt in taekwondo — in a sequence that suggests a healing ritual.

After Boston, Quisol lived in San Francisco for two years, where he organized with the Tenants’ Union, a group working against corporate landlords to secure better rent and living conditions.

Quisol continues to support organizations that work for issues like housing justice with graphic design work and media consulting. He is currently a co-director for Arts Connect International, a nonprofit that builds equity and inclusion through the arts.

He runs an internship program for the organization, bringing undergrad students from marginalized backgrounds into arts leadership positions.

Quisol believes his work as an organizer feeds into his music career and vice versa.

“My whole music career is without a label,” he says. “It’s grassroots. It’s making stuff and putting it out. It’s like … how do you build a base for a movement? We have many movements, and one of my movements is my music.”

While in San Francisco, Quisol was exposed to new production techniques that he quickly adopted.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Dollar Signs w/ Posture & the Grizzly (Evening Muse) Ogres w/ Bog Load, DJ Boss Austin (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Bonnie Raitt w/ Lucinda Williams (Ovens Auditorium)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Jesse McCartney (The Fillmore)

THURSDAY, JUNE 2 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Neverfall w/ Morbid Cross, The Body Bags, Curse of Flesh (The Milestone)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

NC Bluegrass Jam Night (Birdsong Brewing) Grizzly Goat w/ The Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs (Evening Muse) Morgan Wallen (PNC Music Pavilion)

JAZZ/BLUES

Sacred Bodies: An Art Gallery feat. Dexter Jordan, Hey Richard, Sweat Transfer (Petra’s)

JAZZ/BLUES

Jonathan Butler (Middle C Jazz)

SATURDAY, JUNE 4 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Leisure McCorkle (Birdsong Brewing) Grocer w/ Petrov, Wild Trees, Ol’ Sport (The Milestone) Swansgate w/ Heavy Liquid, Magic Candy (Petra’s) Kill the Imposter w/ Resistor (Skylark Social Club) Blue Monday (Amos’ Southend) Sunset Revival (Primal Brewery) 485 (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar) Shem Creeps w/ AM/FMs (Tommy’s Pub)

JAZZ/BLUES

Jonathan Butler (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Kendell Marvel (Evening Muse)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

CHVRCHES (The Fillmore) Yakz w/ Sisto (SERJ) Oceanic w/ Raygun Superstar, Solis (Snug Harbor)

SUNDAY, JUNE 5 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Barenaked Ladies (CMCU Amphitheatre) GWAR (The Underground) Occult Fracture w/ StormWatchers, Close Encounter (Tommy’s Pub)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Release the Pressure: Classic & Soulful Afro House Party (Crown Station) Hazy Sunday (Petra’s)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Jay D Jones (Middle C Jazz)

BLUES/JAZZ

MONDAY, JUNE 6 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Stand Atlantic w/ With Confidence, No Love for Middle Child, Census (Amos’ Southend)

JAZZ/BLUES

The Conn/Davis Jazz Duo (Crown Station) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Still Woozy (The Fillmore)

EXPERIMENTAL

Moris Blak w/ Street Cleaner, Watch Out for Snakes, Solemn Shapes (The Milestone)

ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER

Sober Sunday Showcase feat. Douglas Thompson, Rick Bethel, Zac Moss (Tommy’s Pub)

OPEN MIC

Find Your Muse feat. Kiely Connell (Evening Muse)

The Instigators (Neighborhood Theatre) Bradford Ray Bailey (Primal Brewery)

InfiniteSoul (Middle C Jazz)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Emanuel Wynter w/ Tyler Meacham, Trent Thompson (Petra’s) Promise the Gahd w/ Verbal Van Gogh, Lillian Blanche (Snug Harbor)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Maddie Poppe w/ Meaghan Farrell (Visulite Theatre)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night w/ Chase Brown & Aleeia “sug” Bolton Brown (Tommy’s Pub)

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Paint Fumes w/ Fortezza, Sunday Boxing (The Milestone) Selfgod w/ Blaakhol (Snug Harbor) Abacab (Genesis tribute) (Amos’ Southend)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA John Morgan (Coyote Joe’s)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

The Glen Watkins Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Noah Guthrie (Evening Muse)

INDIE POP BAND OCEANIC PLAYS AT SNUG HARBOR ON JUNE 4.

PHOTO BY DANIEL CARRAI

TUESDAY, JUNE 7

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Cosmic Jam (Crown Station)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

JPH w/ Kelli Frances Corrado, Angela Winter, Florecita (The Milestone) Robert Earl Keen (Neighborhood Theatre)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Yosemite in Black w/ Collective Insanity, Key of Betrayal, Harriet RIP (The Milestone) The Doobie Brothers (PNC Music Pavilion) Ogres w/ B Villainous, Plan Z, DJ Fleg (Snug Harbor)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Nia J. w/ Bravo Pueblo (Stage Door Theater) Russ (CMCU Amphitheatre) Babyface Ray (The Underground)

JAZZ/BLUES

The Lovell Bradford Trio feat. Lauren Muensterman (Middle C Jazz)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Shindig Night w/ Corey Wigg (Tommy’s Pub)

THURSDAY, JUNE 9 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Duckbeak w/ Witness Marks, Fifty Flies, Dear Kavalier (Skylark Social Club)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Celeste Moonchild w/ Eloradash, BoomChld (Petra’s)

JAZZ/BLUES

Brandon Stevens (Middle C Jazz)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Ben Rector (CMCU Amphitheatre)

ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER

Acoustic Grace feat. Jessica Macks, Genesis (Event Masterz)

LATIN/REGGAE/WORLD

Tatiana Eva-Marie (Stage Door Theater)

CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL/RELIGIOUS

Maverick City Music w/ Kirk Franklin (PNC Music Pavilion)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night w/ Chase Brown & Aleeia “sug” Bolton Brown (Tommy’s Pub)

FRIDAY, JUNE 10 Flogging Molly w/ The Interrupters (CMCU Amphitheatre) The Other LA w/ Caffeine Daydream (Evening Muse) Key of Betrayal w/ Skies of Avalon, Lilith Rising, Strike the Tower (Skylark Social Club) Bullet the Blue Sky (U2 Tribute) (Amos’ Southend)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Chatham Rabbits w/ The Local Honeys (Neighborhood Theatre)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Reflexions w/ DJ Velvetine (Tommy’s Pub) The Wormholes w/ Family Video, Pinkerton Raid (Petra’s)

JAZZ/BLUES

Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra (Middle C Jazz)

ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER

Mariah Counts w/ Courtney Lynn & Quinn (Evening Muse) Tonya Wood (Primal Brewery)

LATIN/REGGAE/WORLD

MONDAY, JUNE 13

TUESDAY, JUNE 14

JAZZ/BLUES

The Conn/Davis Jazz Duo (Crown Station) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The War on Drugs (CMCU AMphitheatre) MonaChopsis w/ Nectar, NeptuneFlyer (Petra’s) cumgirl8 w/ Paint Fumes, Los Shadows (Snug Harbor)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Tears for Fears (PNC Music Pavilion) Colatura w/ Dreamboat, Buries in Roses (Snug Harbor)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Cosmic Jam (Crown Station) Unitcode: Machine w/ Finite Automata, IIOIOIOII, Tenderlash, DJ Spider (The Milestone)

OPEN MIC

Find Your Muse feat. Jarrett Raymond

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

MUSICAL COMEDY

Fred Armisen: Comedy for Musicians (Neighborhood Theatre)

Ruthie Collins w/ Anna Grace Beatty (Evening Muse)

LATIN/REGGAE/WORLD

The Freecoasters (Skylark Social Club)

Tatiana Eva-Marie (Stage Door Theater)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

SRO (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

SATURDAY, JUNE 11

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Airpark (Evening Muse) Den of Wolves w/ There Is Art in Everything, Wiltwither, If Only, Fear Until Fury (The Milestone) Genre Clash feat. Red Moon Revival, Collective Insanity, Eavesdropper, Kyng Rash, Indigo Jo, jaybird (Skylark Social Club) Thurston Howell (Amos’ Southend) Yes Chef! w/ Lil Skritt, Twin Beds (Snug Harbor) Kaska Sun w/ Seven Day Haze (Visulite Theatre) Venus Invictus w/ Decadence, A Life Worth Taking (Tommy’s Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Mercury Carter (Petra’s) Legendz of the Streetz feat. Jeezy, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, Trina, Ja Rule (Spectrum Center)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Esther & the Exiles w/ Kris Hitchcock (Primal Brewery)

JAZZ/BLUES

The Lao Tizer Quartet feat. Karen Briggs (Middle C Jazz)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

Ben Gatlin Band (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

SUNDAY, JUNE 12 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Rikki Rakki (The Milestone) Reflect//Refine w/ Rip’dN2, Endbringer, Circle Back, October (Skylark Social Club)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC

Ballantyne School of Music Summer Jam (Amos’ Southend)

BLUES/JAZZ

Jackiem Joyner (Middle C Jazz)

JUNE 2022 WED, JUN 1

DOLLAR SIGNS AND POSTURE AND THE GRIZZLY THUR, JUN 2

GRIZZLY GOAT

W/ THE BROWN MOUNTAIN LIGHTNING BUGS FRI, JUN 3

NOAH GUTHRIE (AN EVENING WITH)

THUR, JUN 9

DANNY WHITSON COMEDY MAGIC W/ MICHELLE RYDER AKA SHELLY BELLY FRI, JUN 10

MARIAH COUNTS

W/COURTNEY LYNN & QUINN

THE OTHER LA

THE KNOX BY NIGHT BAND COMEDY SHOW W/ JORDAN BALLARD (18+)

W/ CAFFEINE DAYDREAM

S A T, J U N 4

AIRPARK

S A T, J U N 1 1

KENDELL MARVEL

MON, JUN 13

MON, JUN 6

FIND YOUR MUSE

FIND YOUR MUSE FEATURING KIELY CONNELL

FEAT. JARRETT RAYMOND

Girl Ultra w/ Katzu Oso, Quisol (Snug Harbor) eveningmuse.com

3 3 2 7 n d av i d s o n s t, c h a r l o t t e n c

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ROCK/PUNK/METAL

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

secret ingredient that Chatman would only describe No piece of cake as “completely different from everything you can Baking might be a relatively popular venture, probably find on the internet.” but there’s a reason not many people go into the She did reveal that she adds citrus, usually cheesecake business, specifically. Cheesecake is lemon or lime juice, to all of her cheesecakes no incredibly technical, Chatman said. There’s so much matter the flavor. Citrus carries the tanginess and science behind getting a perfect top with no cracks cuts the sweetness that cheesecake tends to have, and no color that its led countless people to give up which is one of the biggest compliments she hears on perfecting the process. about Lé Cakes: the sweetness level is just right.

Lé Cakes specializes in New York-style And not one cheesecake in her arsenal is made cheesecake, which is dense and rich compared to the with a graham cracker crust. Instead, Chatman uses fluffier Chicago style and the softer, almost moussea smorgasbord of crushed-up cookies and cereals like texture of a no-bake version. It’s difficult to including Fruity Pebbles, Nilla Wafers, Lotus Biscoff make because it’s baked, and Chatman is all too Cookies and Oreos. familiar with the triumph and disappointment that Though their cheesecake recipes are nearly comes from trying to get it right.

BY KARIE SIMMONS identical, Chatman’s technique is completely After she presses the crust and pours in the different from her uncle’s, which she recalled as batter, she places the cheesecake into a pan of water Charlotte baker Anheleta Chatman isn’t a huge recipe that was passed down to her years ago, as a something along the lines of “throw it all into a to sit in while it bakes in the oven. The water-bath fan of sweets, which is ironic considering that she child. blender, mix it as high as you can and go for it.” method helps the cheesecake not crack on top and runs a business that has her spending a majority of The recipe serves not only as the foundation Through much trial and error over the years, ensures it will come out smooth and creamy, but it’s her time baking and tasting cheesecake. for Lé Cakes, but a jumping off point for Chatman’s Chatman has learned that cheesecakes really don’t not without risk.

In fact, Chatman prefers savory flavors, but even creativity. want you to give them air. They want you to be “You’re basically kind of betting your last dollar more than that, she loves a challenge. And that’s gentle, she said, and they want to be left alone. that no water seeped in — no water got to your crust what cheesecake is: notoriously difficult to get right, Uncle Greg’s kitchen frustratingly easy to screw up.

Originally from New York, Chatman remembers Unlike most desserts, cheesecake fights back traveling upstate with her family on the weekends from the moment the oven door closes. Heat makes to visit her Aunt Nancy and Uncle Greg, who lived the top want to crack and color, while the inside, in a big house on a hill with a pool and lots of land, rich with cheese and cream, wants to curdle. The when she was 9 years old. smallest mistake can throw the whole thing off.

“One weekend, because I was always interested It was that science and technicality that drew in food, my uncle said, ‘You want to learn a recipe?

Chatman in to baking cheesecake initially and I’m going to teach you a recipe this weekend.’ And continues to challenge her today as she bends the it was cheesecake,” Chatman recalled. “It was this possibilities of flavor with her artisan New York-style recipe that he taught me.” cheesecake business, Lé Cakes.

She remembers spending a lot of time on the Though it started as a pandemic side hustle for recipe while her Uncle Greg chimed in with tips the stay-at-home mom, Lé Cakes has since grown here and there. That Thanksgiving, she made mini to a full-time business through the power of social cheesecakes for everyone and whenever she visited media and word-of-mouth. her dad, she made him a cheesecake.

On May 21, Chatman’s cheesecakes were “This recipe just kind of floated and stayed featured at Dessert Wars Charlotte at the Park Expo around with me, but until Lé Cakes took off I Center, where judges awarded Lé Cakes fifth place never thought, ‘This is the one. This is the recipe,’” out of 60 vendors.

Chatman said. “Amongst my friends, I’m the cook, If Lé Cakes continues on its current trajectory, I’m the chef, I’m the baker. So I was always doing Chatman said she can see herself opening a brick- something, but never this one recipe until this took and-mortar shop one day. Until then, she offers off out of nowhere.” local pickup and delivery in Charlotte (though she Aside from small adjustments over the years, says she will sometimes drive her cheesecakes to the cheesecake recipe Chatman uses for Lé Cakes is customers in her former home city of Raleigh). almost exactly what her Uncle Greg taught her as a Chatman spends lots of her time in the kitchen, child. In fact, she knows it so well, and has spent so tinkering with ingredients like a scientist looking many hours beyond that day in his kitchen working to create new flavors. But no matter how many to perfect it, she can easily rattle it off down to the different directions she takes her cakes, from Fruity ounces and grams of each ingredient.

Pebbles to banana pudding, there remains one PHOTO BY ANHELETA CHATMAN Technique and ingredients set Lé Cakes apart LÉ CAKES OFFERS A CINNAMON ROLL NEW YORK-STYLE CHEESECAKE, AMONG OTHERS. constant: Each cake is rooted in the same family from store-bought cheesecake, specifically one

THE SCIENCE OF SWEET

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Anheleta Chatman takes family cheesecake recipe in new directions with Lé Cakes

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE — because if it did, party’s over,” Chatman said. “You have to throw the whole thing away, all the work you just did. You have to start completely over.”

Chatman’s cheesecakes need to cool for at least 12 hours after baking before decorating can begin. It’s a long process that, for a large 10-inch cheesecake, can take about 32 hours to complete from start to finish. Chatman also makes a smaller size that feeds up to four people and sells minicheesecakes by the dozen.

Despite the difficulty of cheesecake, Chatman never gave up. In fact, she’s taken her uncle’s recipe for classic cheesecake and manipulated it over a dozen times to make flavors such as Fruity Pebble, banana Biscoff, lemon Oreo, dulce de leche, carrot cake and cinnamon roll.

She loves to challenge herself by making customer requests for new flavors, which she calls freestyle, and many freestyle cakes have become permanent menu items.

“It takes a lot of trial and error,” Chatman said.

“And it all comes from asking how far can we push this recipe to go? How far can we manipulate it?”

That’s where the science comes in.

When Chatman was experimenting with

An evolving passion

ANHELETA CHATMAN

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANHELETA CHATMAN

Chatman has been interested in cooking, as her experience with Uncle Greg proves, but when she attended Johnson & Wales University, she had no intention of becoming a baker. She initially wanted to open a food truck that

fused her father’s Caribbean roots with her mother’s Puerto Rican heritage.

After graduating with a degree in Food & Beverage Industry Management, Chatman worked as a concessions cook at what is now the Spectrum Center, which is where she met her husband, who is currently a chef for NASCAR. She later served as director of concessions at what is now Truist Field and then as a deli manager at several high-end grocery stores.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Chatman’s daughter, Nori Mae, had just turned 1 year old. Chatman didn’t want to put her at risk so she decided to take a leave of absence, then began selling cheesecake by the slice to earn extra money while she was at home.

It was in August 2021 that business skyrocketed thanks to an unintentionally viral social media post.

When a friend asked Chatman to make a cheesecake for a baby shower, she decided on a whim to post on Facebook asking if anyone else might be interested in a full cake as well.

“I’m not kidding, I had like 20 people order cheesecakes from me that day,” Chatman said. “And from then all the way through holiday season until now, we’ve been swamped.”

“Honestly, I should have known because, in 2020, I was selling slices of cheesecake during the pandemic — literally leaving it in a box in a bag hanging on my door for people to come and grab,” she continued. “So it kind of came like full circle for me.”

She went viral again this past January when she encouraged her Twitter followers to retweet a photo of her cheesecakes. Her post received over 4,000 retweets and over 5,000 likes.

Chatman’s passion for cheesecake lies both in her desire to challenge herself and her love of making food that people enjoy. The success of Lé Cakes is especially meaningful to her family, who were there the day Chatman made her first cheesecake and have seen the recipe evolve and mature with Chatman.

What started as a simple recipe for classic cheesecake has gone so far beyond what any of them, including Chatman, could have imagined.

And there’s still so much further she can go.

“I feel like we have something that’s fun and original,” she said. “I’m not done with concepts on what can be done with cheesecake. I’m truly just getting started.”

As it turns out, hundreds of cheesecakes later, Chatman is a fan of something sweet after all: success.

KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM

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making key lime pie cheesecake, she found the key lime completely changed the texture of the batter, so she had to adjust other ingredients to make it right. With the cherry pie cheesecake, she first tried using a store-bought cherry filling but that caused the batter to curdle in the oven, so she made a homemade tart jam and folded in frozen cherries.

She’s gone through dozens of types of cream cheese, as some create too much moisture and others have too much sugar, causing the cheesecake to brown during bake time. She’s constantly tasting — despite not being a huge fan of sweets — so that she can not only nail down new flavors but further perfect those already established.

“We all know we can grab a slice of cheesecake almost anywhere. We can run to The Cheesecake Factory and grab any slice,” Chatman said. “The point of what I’m doing is to give you something that not only looks super cute and is very different from what we see for cheesecake, but also makes people say , ‘Huh, I never thought about that. I never thought that would go there.’ So that’s kind of where all these flavors have come from.”

Lé Cakes also offers keto- and diabetic-friendly cheesecakes made with Monk fruit sweetener in a Catalina Crunch cereal crust. Chatman is currently toying with the idea of vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free versions, but that comes with its own set of challenges, she said.

In cheesecake, dairy is what brings fat and flavor; fat is what gives texture on the palate; and eggs add moisture and texture, Chatman explained. She often wonders how replacing these ingredients would change the recipe and alter the taste, but she doesn’t think it’s impossible.

She just needs to get into the kitchen and figure it out.

“With cheesecake, these are all difficult lanes because a lot of what I do is texture-based and when we start introducing dairy-free or gluten-free, it’s all fat content and how far can we push it,” she said.

It was the challenge that drew her into this game, after all.

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LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

CROSSWORD

1. TELEVISION: Luke’s Diner is a prominent feature in which 2000s SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE TV show?

2. MUSIC: When did The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar” hit the No. 1 spot?

3. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What does the Greek translation of rhinoceros mean?

4. MOVIES: Which movie features the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”?

5. LANGUAGE: What is the American English equivalent of the British English phrase “drawing pin”?

6. U.S. STATES: Which state’s nickname is the Yellowhammer State?

7. HISTORY: Who is believed to be the first to draw a world map, in 6th century BC? 8. AD SLOGANS: Which company advertised its product with the oneword description “Fahrvergnugen”?

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW 9. GEOGRAPHY: How many states are ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS in Australia?

ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE. 10. LITERATURE: Which 20th-century ©2022 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved. novel starts with the line, “They’re out there”?

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2019 2020 2021

JUST ADD SALT

©2022 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

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(980) 299-2588 3012 N. DAVIDSON STREET VOTED BEST TATTOO SHOP 2918 N. DAVIDSON STREET CHARLOTTE, NC 28205

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

AERIN IT OUT

THE SUPER RETURN Going back to somewhere new at Super Abari Game Bar

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BY AERIN SPRUILL

When your day starts by defending adults around the world obsessed with the supernatural adventures of Stranger Things to your boyfriend, a non-watching Demogorgon, as you binge part one of the fourth season, it’s only fitting that your night end with a deeper dive into the upside-down at Super Abari Game Bar — a place where the magical, mythical misfits of the margins can feel right at home.

Back in 2015, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Abari owner and visionary Zach Pulliam at Growlers Pourhouse to chat about all things Abari during a time when there was uncertainty about when the doors would open on his original location on Parkwood Avenue and North Davidson Street.

That’s why I and many loyal followers were stoked when the arcade bar finally opened.

Unlike other arcades I’d visited, Abari was like a lover you’ve just met but who makes you feel like you’ve known them for years; it just fit. Then COVID-19 happened and Abari was forced to close its doors.

But that’s not where the beloved arcade’s story ended.

Two years later, a silver lining presented itself in a bleak landscape filled with shiny new nightlife toys, uncertain if they’ll survive long enough to become vintage: Pulliam announced the grand re-opening of everyone’s favorite arcade bar under a somewhat new name: Super Abari.

Double the size, triple the bathrooms, double the pinball machines, and double the fun, Super Abari lives up to its name for round two.

I couldn’t help the geekish grin on my face as I waited not so patiently for a membership at the door and peeped the familiar “living room” setup complete with a leather couch and four gamers excitedly playing Mario Kart on the TV in front of them.

Between that, the faint smell of Red Bull vodka that tickled my gag reflex, and “Grindin’” by Clipse playing through the speakers, I thought, “This still feels like home.”

As I sat at a high-top taking in my first sips, staring at the display case featuring the evolution of the Game & Watch (these conjured a sense of too old for me to remember, bro) I thought about when I fell in a love/hate relationship with my first arcade game.

As a kid, Galaga provided my only escape from many daunting trips to the laundromat. And decades later, I can’t help but geek out when I stumble upon one in unsuspecting places.

Standing at the top of the stairs that descend into the twinkling lights of a gamer-safe haven, I felt the childlike excitement milling about the room. It reminded me during a very difficult week, month, and couple of years, that there are still spaces where you can escape the woes of adulthood and be a kid again.

Though I knew there would be twice as many pinball machines as its predecessor, I was still overwhelmed (and even intimidated) by the multitude of choices. How does one choose where to start? Do I simply jump on the first one I see open? Even if one pinball machine touts a velociraptor and the classic Jurassic Park logo, is it at all that fundamentally different from its decked-out Batman pinball neighbor? See, that’s why I avoid them altogether.

I searched for my old faithful, as I wanted to dust my shoulders off, when I observed no one waiting to play “my” Galaga. I pulled over a drink stand and sat my cheese Super Hot Pocket — which in and of itself triggered nostalgia for the hotter than hell, often stale but traditional Hot Pockets from childhood that still find their way into my freezer — on the floor before settling in and popping that first quarter into the slot.

I heard the familiar clink and waited for a prompt like “PRESS BUTTON” to flash across the screen. To my dismay, there was no flash. Two dollars later, I was very hopeful that in my somewhat buzzed state I was “doing something wrong” but that was wishful thinking. And my fling with Galaga fizzled out before it began as I was told that the machine was probably going to be out of service for the rest of the night.

I settled for another childhood fave, Frogger. Am I the only one that finds there’s a negative correlation between drinks consumed and the ability to safely get a frog across the road? Needless to say, I spent more time putting quarters in than I spent successfully proceeding to the next level of play. This was my cue that this solo trip down memory lane was coming to an end. At least for that night. I’ll be back for you soon Galaga, my love.

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BORN THIS WEEK: Your ruling planet, Mercury,

endows you with a gift for writing. Have you considered penning the world’s greatest novel?

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) A heads-up alert to all LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) An on-the-

free-spirited Ewes and Rams: Be wary of a deal that job change works to your benefit by offering new could result in compromising your independence. opportunities. It’s up to you to check them out.

Check every detail before making a commitment.

Meanwhile, a stalled romantic situation starts up again.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) New facts emerge that help put an irksome workplace situation in SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) That perspective. Meanwhile, pay more attention to flare-up of Scorpian temperament cools down, a family member who needs your wisdom and leaving you more receptive to suggestions about changes that might need to be made in your strength. personal life.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A slight setback in plans is nothing to worry about. Use this delay SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December to deal with a number of matters you might have 21) An unusual period of indecisiveness is a ignored for too long. Expect news from someone in mite frustrating. But things soon clear up, allowing the sage Sagittarian to make those wise your past. pronouncements again.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) You’re entering a period of stability. Use it to straighten out any CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) You outstanding problems related to a very personal might feel that you know best, but it’s not a good situation. Also, pay closer attention to financial idea at this time to try to force your opinions on others. Best advice: Inspire change by example, matters. not by intimidation.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) As much as you love being a social Lion, you might well benefit from AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Some staying out of the spotlight for a while. You need setbacks could affect your plans to fortify your financial situation. But things start moving time to reflect on some upcoming decisions. again by early next week. Meanwhile, enjoy your VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A difficult resurgent social life. family situation improves, thanks to your timely intervention. You can now start to focus more of PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Show that your attention on preparing for a possible career often-hidden steely spine of yours as you once again stand up to an emotional bully. You’ve got change. the strength to do it, especially as friends rally to your side.

JUNE 8 - 14

BORN THIS WEEK:

Your keen interest in pursuing global events could lead you into a career as a politician or journalist.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) A recent spate of LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) A workplace confusion regarding decision-making begins to situation can be awkward for Librans who prefer to clear up. But caution is still advised. Continue to keep their problems private. But you might have to check details. An old friend has important news. “tell-all” if you hope to see it resolved in your favor.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You’re anxious to see SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Although your ideas move from concept to development. But your financial situation starts to improve this week, trying to force the issue right now could backfire. you still need to be cautious about money matters.

Wait for movement to resume shortly.

Avoid major obligations, for now.

GEMINI

(May 21 to June 20) Keep your SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) thoughts focused on the positive as you deal with Your overall aspects continue to brighten, allowing an unexpected turn of events in a personal or you to tackle long-deferred challenges. A change in professional relationship. This could be the start of travel plans could work to your benefit. a welcome change.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Health matters take

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Things

seem to be slowing down for the usually restless Sea on added importance at this time. Deal with them Goat. But wouldn’t a bit of respite be just what you before they interfere with your summer plans. A need right now? Activity picks up by the weekend. relationship that cooled off could soon warm up again.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Personal relationships take a positive turn for both married and single Aquarians. Professional commitments, involving upcoming decisions still need your however, could be complicated by newly emerging attention, you fun-loving Felines can begin to spend events. more time enjoying your lively social life again.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) While a few details

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) That long-

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) A decision you

thought was final might be reopened as new facts sought-after career change could require you to are discovered. This could lead to a short-term move to another city. Weigh your decision carefully problem, but ultimately might prove beneficial. before either accepting or rejecting the offer out of hand.

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PG.19 PUZZLE ANSWERS 7. Greek academic Anaximander 8. Volkswagen. It’s German for “driving enjoyment.”

9. Six 10. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

JUNE 1 - 7

HOROSCOPE

2022 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

Trivia Answers 1. “The Gilmore Girls” 2. 1969 3. Horned nose 4. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” 5. Thumb tack 6. Alabama

LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

SAVAGE LOVE

EXPENSED WITH Who’s a kept boy?

BY DAN SAVAGE

I’m a 31-year-old queer person living in Europe.

I recently met a 46-year-old man. We were visiting the same city for work and met on an app and went on a series of amazing dates. We have a lot of similar interests and work in parallel fields. Now we’re planning a trip to see each other. It’s partly a work trip for him, but we will take a vacation together after the work part of the trip for him is over. To get to the point … he makes a lot more money than I do. He has offered to cover as much of the costs as he needs to. I feel like I’m out of my league here! I really like him and he seems to really like me but I’m struggling to fight the feeling that this is a “Daddy and His Boy” situation. Do I need to fight that feeling or lean into it? It’s not a dynamic he said he wants. I don’t mind if we agree that’s what we are doing. But I don’t want to fall into a daddy/boy dynamic accidentally because of money and “status.” How do I date him like I would someone closer to my age and income?

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KNOWING ECONOMIC POSITION TENUOUS

If the daddy/boy dynamic isn’t something you want (if it doesn’t turn you on and/or you worry it’ll make things weird), and it isn’t something he wants (assuming he didn’t just say that because he thought it was what you wanted to hear), then you definitely shouldn’t “lean into it.” Instead, you should handle the expense of this trip the same way committed couples with large income disparities split the rent. If you were making 50K a year and he was making 150K a year and you wanted to move in together but weren’t ready to merge your finances, you should pay a quarter of the rent and he would pay three quarters of the rent. Same should go for utilities, food, and other expenses.

But you’re not moving in together, KEPT, you’re just going on a vacation, so things can be a little looser. If you can afford to fly coach and he wants to fly first class, he should cover the difference between coach and first-class fares. If he wants to cover the hotel (a major expense), you should cover meals — maybe not all of them, particularly if he wants to eat in fancy places, but enough of them that it will be clear to you, to him, to your waiter, and to the angels and saints watching from heaven that

you aren’t a kept boy. (Nothing will make you feel less “kept” than pulling out your own credit card.)

And the first part of the trip is for business and he would presumably be going with or without you, KEPT, so you shouldn’t feel guilty about not paying for meals or the hotel on that leg — a hotel room he would be staying in with or without you, meals he would be putting on his expense account with or without you — but maybe treat him to a surprise excursion on that leg of the trip that you can afford. (Assuming either of you wants to leave your hotel room at this stage of your relationship.)

The kind of disparities you describe — in ages, incomes, and the stages of your respective careers — are something almost all couples have faced (or in the case of income and career advancement, something most couples eventually face). But don’t spend too much time thinking about how you’re going to make this work over the long-term. You just met, you really liked each other, and you’re both willing to travel long distances to keep seeing each other; that should be your focus right now, KEPT. If he wasn’t comfortable covering most of the expenses, he wouldn’t have offered to do that. He could’ve spent his vacation time in the city where you live instead.

Of course, there’s a chance it was a trick offer — he offered to cover the expense of the trip expecting you would turn it down — and he’s going to punish you in some passiveaggressive way for taking him up on it. If that happens, well, you can go back to dating boys closer to your age and tax bracket and/or well-off guys who don’t play games.

I’m a single and kinky gay man, doing mainly vanilla dating at the moment. Recently, I got dumped by a guy because I fessed up to being kinky. I also told him I believe in God. I realize that might appear contradictory, but I don’t see why both can’t coexist. He told me he can’t date anyone who’s sexually deviant who also believes in “fairies at the bottom of the garden.” Both were equally problematic for him: my belief in God and my kinks.

I wasn’t expecting to be both kink-shamed and Godshamed in the same breath. Are there such things as kinky Christians? Where can I find my tribe?

FRUSTRATED ABOUT INSULTINGLY TERMINATING HOOKUP

One of the kinkiest guys I ever met — dungeon-inhis-basement kinky, flog-you-until-you-are-screaming kinky — was an Episcopal priest. So yeah, FAITH, there are kinky Christians out there. But instead of sitting at home alone wondering where your tribe is, get out there and find your tribe. Get on kinky dating apps, go to leather/fetish events, date some non-vanilla guy, make some non-vanilla friends. If you find a welcoming tribe and it turns out you’re the only believer, so long as no one judges or shames you, FAITH, join that tribe. If you meet guys who have a problem with your faith, they don’t get to be a part of your tribe.

As for the guy who called you a sexual deviant … what the hell does he think he is? Without deviation from the norm, there wouldn’t be “normal” gay guys for that asshole to date at all. Some of us may deviate more than others, FAITH, but that’s as true for gay people as it is for straight people.

A man I very casually “dated” for ONE MONTH more than 15 YEARS AGO — a man I have maintained a friendship with ever since — tells his new girlfriends that I am his “ex-girlfriend.” This disclosure causes a lot of unnecessary awkwardness between whoever his current girlfriend might be and me. I’ve told him he shouldn’t do that because I was never officially his girlfriend. For 99.999% of the time I’ve known him, we’ve been friends, compared to the .001% of the time when we were very casually dating. He says he doesn’t want to lie?!? But it’s not a lie to say we are friends! I hate the awkwardness that it causes between me and the women he dates now.

They never have a chance to get to know and trust me. Help me explain this to him so he finally gets it!

NEVER HIS GIRLFRIEND

makes things awkward with his current, and his current girlfriend’s intuitive sense that he’s either intentionally or thoughtlessly making things awkward makes him a less appealing partner. He doesn’t want a commitment or anything long-term, and instead of being honest about that, he’s weaponizing your existence to erect barriers between him and whomever he’s dating at the moment.

He may not be doing it knowingly, but he’s doing it just the same, and it’s a shitty thing to do to a friend.

And the next time he does it, NHG, object and object loudly: “Don’t be ridiculous! I was NEVER your girlfriend!”

Hey, Everybody: The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, has always been terrible. It was founded in 1845 by supporters of slavery and the organization is racist to its core still. Leaders, churches, and preachers in the Southern Baptist Convention have also been the loudest anti-gay voices in the country for decades, and lately they’ve been loudly promoting the lie that gay and trans people — by simply existing — are somehow grooming children. Well, it turns out the groomers were in the building all along. In their buildings, in their megachurches, in their leadership — and they weren’t waving rainbow flags or reading from “Heather Has Two Mommies.” They were waving Confederate battle flags and reading from Leviticus.

A blockbuster report released last week documents decades of sexual abuse committed by pastors and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention. The same preachers who were accusing gays and lesbians of ‘coming for your kids’ were the ones coming for your kids. And in them. As with all powerobsessed social conservatives, as with all Trumpers (and the Southern Baptist Convention is now a Trump property), every accusation — of corruption, of rigged elections, of sexual abuse — is an admission of guilt.

He gets it, NHG. The awkwardness he’s creating Listen to Dan on the Savage Lovecast; follow Dan on between you and his girlfriend-of-the-moment — the Twitter @FakeDanSavage; columns, podcasts, books, merch awkwardness you see as unnecessary and avoidable and more at savage.love; send questions to questions@ — is exactly what he wants. Introducing you as his ex savagelove.net

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